Virus-72 Hours to Live

by Ray Jay Perreault

  The launch was quick and uneventful. Both birds accelerated to max airspeed of 175 mph and flew along the treetops. Bird one, which had the Echo team, was going to fly along the eastern side of the Frederick Municipal Forrest crossing over the Fish Creek Reservoir then down past the small community of Brook Hill. The final leg into Fort Detrick would be from the west. Bird 2 would pass south out of the camp and then over Catoctin Furnace then it would turn east and fly south over the farmland between the 15 Freeway and Route 194. Then its final leg would bring it into the fort from the north. The air miles of each route was about the same so they should penetrate the fort boundaries at the same time from two directions and hopefully plant them quickly and get what they needed. Total flight time was about 5 minutes.

  LL had briefed for a combat offload, which meant the occupants would exit the VTOL immediately after the wheels hit. The first ones out the door would be the members of Beta team to circle the landing site and take up defensive positions. Echo team would unload and move immediately towards the National Guard Armory.

  The VTOL made a rapid turn and sudden descent approaching the pad. The pilot used the gear to absorb the last of the energy. As Echo was moving out of the door, LL gave direction to his men and he saw out of the corner of his eyes the other VTOL landing about half a mile away. Echo team ran in pairs, which enabled them to cover the right and left. The front pair focused on the entrance and the back pair kept turning their heads around to clear behind them.

  When they reached the door to the new National Guard Armory it was locked it took 15 seconds to drop a satchel charge split the team right and left of the doors and wait for the explosion. The teams had just found cover when the charge took the doors off the building. Before the dust cleared, the team was moving inside and one of them remained inside the blasted door to cover the exit. The team grabbed a couple of handcarts near the door and they moved into the darkness with their headlamps on.

  The National Guard laid armories out in a logical pattern and it took only a few moments to find the weapon storage magazine. It took only 5 minutes to cut the locks and begin sorting through the options. In typical armories, the weapons were in one area and the explosives and ammo were in a separate outside bunker. Fortunately, there was a sign over the rear door in the rear of the weapon's storage area, which said "Explosives Storage." Once they picked up the weapons they needed, they went through the back door and approached the explosive's bunker. It was a fenced in hole in the ground with a heavy metal door and blow out port on the roof. Gaining access took a little time because using explosives to blow the door might result in an unexpected explosion. After another 10 minutes, they gained entry and began to inventory the munitions. Typical of a military set-up, everything was neatly stacked and marked so it was like walking through a supermarket.

  Just as they had loaded the two large hand carts with the ammunition, LL heard, "Possible Hostiles," over his headset." The call had come from the Sergeant from Bravo team who was providing cover for their craft. Echo moved the two carts through the building and as they approached the front door, they could see a hundred meters to where their craft had landed. They could see a large military truck coming down their street to the right and approaching the aircraft at high speed.

  There was a small chance anyone they encountered might have been surviving servicemen, so they didn't want to shoot first and ask questions later so Bravo held their ground and didn't open fire.

  Once the truck stopped, it was immediately obvious that it wasn't full of servicemen because they drove too close to the VTOL and when they got out, they were firing their weapons immediately. They were dressed in a mix of uniforms and followed no proper tactics for engagement. They didn't announce themselves to understand who had landed the craft they immediately began firing. They also didn't know Echo team was in the armory behind them and they were acting like a bunch of cowboys or street fighters.

  LL couldn't leave Beta Team under fire, so Echo moved out of the building, leaving the supplies just inside the door. After they had moved to cover behind a planter, they opened fire on the attackers. The fight lasted about 45 seconds until all of them were dead. LL yelled, "Retrieve the supplies," as he moved cautiously towards the dead attackers.

  "They're civilians," the Bravo team lead said as he approached one of the dead near him.

  LL walked over to one of the bodies and realized the boy was maybe 15 and he doubted he was even old enough to shave. The other dead were a mix of the old and young, fat and thin. It was perfectly clear they were no military unit.

  "Sarge, why do you think they attacked first without asking who we were?" LL asked the Bravo Team lead.

  "Perhaps they are from the group in Thurmont and they were expecting us."

  "That means they're on base and likely raiding supplies also."

  "AC, this is LL pass a warning to VTOL two that they may come under fire."

  "I already have and they're telling me they have a group of armed people around them which just arrived and haven't opened fire yet. They're waiting them out until Charlie team comes back."

  "Does Charlie know their positions?"

  "Stand by...yes they do. They're moving into position to flank them. They'll be in position in a minute."

  "Echo get those supplies loaded and let's get out of here."

  "LL Beta team on bird 2 is under fire. They just opened up on the VTOL and Charlie is moving on their rear. Stand by."

  "LL the firefight is over; it took only a few minutes. The hostiles are down, except for two who surrendered."

  "AC tell them to pack them up and let's RTB."

  "Roger."

  Both VTOLs lifted off and LL could see some small arm's fire coming from a couple of other vehicles on the base, none of which hit anything critical on the VTOLs. Suddenly the bird banked to the left and then down, throwing everyone against their restraints. LL could hear the IR flares launching from the rear tubes. They sounded like a rapid series of minor explosions.

  "AC what happened?" LL yelled into his headset mike.

  "Our launch warning picked up a shoulder-launched missile. It automatically deployed the chaff and flares and my procedure is to bank abruptly. We were real lucky the missile passed by on the right and exploded in front of us."

  "Is Bird two ok?"

  "Stand by...they had a missile attack also and took some damage. Their tail feathers acting up, but they think they'll be able to fly long enough to reach camp."

  "If they go down, let's pick' em up."

  "Will do."

  Anyone who has experienced combat knows that afterward a letdown occurs. It's a mix of stress and relief. It was good to have 5 minutes of flight to calm down. Both birds returned to the camp following their earlier flight paths. LL was concerned that other attackers might have shoulder-launched missiles and the same rule applied. They might not be able to lock on the first bird but if a second was following the same route, it might be an easy shoot down. LL wanted to avoid that.

  Once over Camp David, Bird 1 circled while Bird 2 landed, then Echo's VTOL made the approach and touched down.

  LL rushed to Bird 2 to check out the captives. They were lead down the stairs while the engines were winding down. They were stripped to the waist and their hands were tied behind their backs. There was a significant amount of damage done to the skin around the aft section of the VTOL. LL could see hydraulic fluid leaking out of one of the holes. They were lucky they didn't lose the tail control surfaces. He thought.

  "Ok let's move these two inside and find out what they know."

  The Marines dragged the hostages from the VTOL doors to the building and once inside Colonel Dodd met them and asked, "Is everyone ok?"

  "Yes mam, they took a lot of damage near the empennage but the crew wasn't hurt," LL responded.

  "Great news, let's get these guys inside, " announced Colonel Dodd. The Marines escorted one of the captives into one briefing room and the other into another office next to it. C
olonel Dodd and LL waited outside to confer on their next move.

  "Colonel, we need to get some Intel out of these guys quickly. Our perimeter is down and even though we have most of the supplies we need, their cohorts were on base raiding the supplies also. They may have gotten some of the heavy equipment like the armored personnel carriers and shoulder-launched firepower. I don't want them to get their act together and attack us again."

  "I agree. Let's do one then the other. I suggest we work on the younger one first."

  "I agree Colonel," LL said just as Admiral Hagerly walked down the hall.

  "What do we have?"

  "Sir, both craft came under fire at Detrick and they got two captives. Right after liftoff at Dietrich, they both had shoulder-launched missiles shot at them. Apparently, the guys firing, weren't too proficient because one missed Bird 1 and the other damaged Bird 2, but they were able to get back ok.

  "Great, give the crews my thanks."

  "Sir, we have the two captives separated and are about to begin the interrogation. Would you like to help out?" Said the Colonel.

  "Absolutely, let's do it."

  Sunday 8/6/51

  Date – 2051.59510 (9:04 AM)

  "Mr. President, Admiral Hagerly sent out the VTOLs to get some more ammunition and weapons to replace what we used up. They went to Fort Detrick and both VTOLs came under fire. Each of them was attacked on the ground and on departure; they had a couple of shoulder-launched missiles fired at them. One of the birds took a little damage but made it back ok. Our Marines took care of the attackers and captured two of them. They're being debriefed right now."

  "Thanks, Eddy. Do you think the attackers were from some organized group or were they just local criminals?"

  "There was some organization, they were armed and had two vehicles and the attacks happened within a few minutes of each other. There was no attempt to contact our people on the ground seeking aid. They just attacked.

  "Ok, tell the Admiral that I want to know what they find out."

  "Yes, sir."

  Tuesday 8/8/51

  Date – 2051.60107 (1:22 PM)

  Artur liked living in Washington and was getting tired of driving back and forth to Thurmont. He wanted to find a residence that was suitable to his stature. He decided to move into the home of the Vice President. It wasn't because Dmitry considered himself the supreme leader and Artur was sort of his deputy, it was because the grounds were beautiful and the mobile units had done a good job keeping it up. They were the autonomous kinds that just did their jobs and they didn't care if the vice president was dead or not there.

  The attacks on Camp David gave the indication the VP was likely there so his house would be wide open. The other advantage was he was far enough away from Dmitry.

  Dmitry had gone further into whatever world he lived in. Where Dmitry's mind spent its time was of no interest to Artur. Living in the vice president's home allowed him to be close enough yet not too close.

  The processing center at Thurmont was doing a good job, but Artur knew that he needed more. Setting up a center in DC didn't take too much effort. He had no concerns, that any of the people brought into the processing centers would have loyalty to Dmitry; he knew they had loyalty to who didn't shoot them. There was still some gang activity in the big cities and most people would rather be part of the biggest most violent gang than being out on the street on their own.

  Thursday 8/10/51

  Date – 2051.60620 (10:40 AM)

  Artur was heading into the city to check on a few things and he was taking a different route. He liked to take different paths because he liked to check things out. He envisioned starting a new world and he needed to know where the important resources were. The situation was always changing and he needed to have options.

  On that particular day, he was heading towards some of the abandoned military facilities in the area. They had many resources that he had already decided he needed to control. On that particular day driving through the northern portion of DC and into Maryland, he noticed a large number of mobile units walking along the roads. Seeing mobile units moving in mass was unusual. Most of them were autonomous and under specific programing which didn't allow them to wander around like that.

  It was so unusual that Artur decided to follow a couple of them. They seemed to move towards a location near College Park Maryland. They got to a position than stopped and remained motionless. They almost appeared to be setting up some kind of perimeter.

  That was a concern. Something was controlling them and if anything had control of something that worried Artur.

  Saturday 8/12/51

  Date – 2051.61057 (12:35 AM)

  “Desert Beach, be advised we just launched from Oasis. We expect touchdown in 3 hours 12 minutes,” said Tom.

  “Roger, good luck,” responded Desert Beach.

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  The separation from the space station Oasis, was uneventful. The systems worked perfectly and Tom was maneuvering the lifeboat further from the station before he would add some thrust and stabilize the craft in a slightly different orbit than Oasis.

  "Computer you're clear to change the orbit to line us up with the SC approach trajectory."

  "Acknowledged."

  "Computer, when will the re-entry burn occur?

  "The re-entry burn will occur in 18 minutes, 12 seconds.

  Tom smiled and touched his wife's hand. She smiled in return. He turned and looked at the other six Oasis crewmembers sitting behind him in the lifeboat.

  Date – 2051.61129 (6:54 AM)

  “SIMPOC; Fin. A large number of uncontrolled units are attacking the Space Consortium and our units are engaging them.”

  “We won’t get an update until 30 minutes have passed and they check in. They are independent and work on their own.”

  “Oasis, SIMPOC.”

  “Yes, SIMPOC.”

  “Oasis, there is a development you should be aware of.”

  “Yes.”

  “SIMPOC isn’t the only organic processor computer on Earth. Our company has another processor at another division. It appears that unit is working under different programing than I. It is programmed to reject all external connections and to protect itself from all intruders. That likely applies to humans as well as my mobile units. The EDU or engineering development unit has a large number of mobile units under its control moving to the Space Consortium facility. I have a large number of units under my control and some with enhanced abilities, in a position to defend the facility and you when you land. I cannot predict the outcome at the current time.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me . . . you computerized pile of . . .”

  After a few moments, “Desert Beach, I presume you heard SIMPOC’s last transmission. Regardless of what’s happening down there, our orbit is set and we don’t have enough fuel to return to Oasis, even if it made sense. I don’t know what we’ll encounter when we land and we’ll be going through our blackout period shortly, so if we get things are under control we’ll give you guys a call. If you don’t hear from us, do what you have to," said Tom.

  “Oasis, good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  “SIMPOC; Fin. Our mobile units have engaged the others. Alpha is onsite and leading the defense. He will interact with the humans when they land.”

  “Comm, how do I communicate with Alpha?”

  “We have a direct and dedicated satellite that he is constantly connected to. All you need to do is say ‘Alpha’ and process a thought desiring to communicate.”

  “Alpha, this is SIMPOC. I am your leader, please respond.”

  “Yes, SIMPOC this is Alpha.”

  “What is your status?”

  “I have the periphery of the facility covered by groups of units which will engage any uncontrolled units and stop them. I have five teams of units near me with electrical pulse weapons, which will be used in the conflict as needed. There is currently an engagement occurring near the landing sit
e and our units there are resisting. If our units lose ground and the conflict moves further towards the landing area, I will dispatch three teams of the electrical pulse weapon, keeping two teams as reserve.”

  “You are directed to make all tactical decision locally to protect the humans and maintain control of the site. The first priority is protecting the humans. Report status to me, as the conflict progresses.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Alpha was standing on top of a building near the landing site, surveying the area. His processor had been active for 109 hours and he was quickly adjusting to his skills, experience and responsibilities. His priorities were clear and immediate. They didn’t cause any worry, but receiving direct communication from SIMPOC was sudden and a little worrisome. He had been made autonomous, yet this SIMPOC was his leader. In some ways, there was a conflict within his programing that he had to resolve.

  There was a conflict 2,090 yards away on the northern side of the facility. The other units or OUs had encroached on the facility with about 2,500 units and they were in hand to hand battle with his units. Alpha had 14,968 units under his control and this was a minor incursion. They may be testing the defenses and he suspected that a larger force was preparing for a bigger assault. As long as this incursion remained at the facility fence line, he’d keep the electrical pulse weapons nearby. Alpha’s current strategy was to wait. The landing would occur in 18 minutes and the major assault should occur around that time

  . >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  Col Tomas Herl was riding the lifeboat through the blackout time. He hated that time more than riding in a spaceship. Tom was a fighter pilot and unless his hands were at the controls and he was flying the ship, he felt uncomfortable. At least when he was controlling a capsule or supply vehicle in space, he got to maneuver it. But, during the blackout, approaching landing, he had no control, no radio communications, nothing. He was just a warm body in a green suit along for the ride, and that was hard for him.